PPF removal-- you've got to be kidding me

Well well, guess what happened... all this ppf story got me thinking about mine. I bought the car covered in ppf all around, including all the way up the top rear bumper. I removed most of it, spent days on doors, bumpers.... Took the car to a ppf shop to remove the bonnet and fenders and apply new ppf.

It came with the clear coat. I think they rushed it... now the car is being painted. damn. It was very old and stiff, and most of it left all the glue behind...

I am re-thinking the ppf story now, don't think I'll put any on anymore.

 

Sorry to hear that- its like a gut punch. Do you know when it was put on? Mine is going on 5 yrs and I may leave it on for only 2 more years. I know the older films had much less expected life, thats why I ask

 

That sucks, am so sorry to hear that. I will NEVER put PPF back on my car. I know everyone tells me the newer PPF is much better than the older stuff, never pulls paint, etc, but i still will never put it back on my car.

 

I have a history record of "repaired scratches and re-applied ppf on front bumper" from 2006. If it 's all that old.. no wonder. But I don't know when everything was applied. You should be fine on 5 years. Problem is, re-applying film on bumper costs just as much as re-spraying front bumper, so what is better? I don't know .

The shop wanted to reapply on mine 2 days after painting... I said no no, I just want it home, no more film for me.

 

never reapply after painting that soon. Needs way more time to full cure

 

A minimum of 3 months after painting and that needs to be at ~70 degrees.

 

Never, ever apply PPF or vinyl wrap to any repainted panel, regardless of age. If you plan on garaging the car and only driving at night, then you have a 50-50 chance of not ruining the paint. If you drive in the daytime sun, then you will, without question, ruin the paint on removal. A $50K paint job will be superior in luster, shine, depth, but the factory original durability simply cannot be matched in a paint booth.

Anyway, if I want to gamble, I'll hit the Vegas strip rather than roll the dice on my Ferrari's paint job!

 

I agree... now that being said; my M3 was resprayed and I applied myself a pre-cut kit of ppf 4 years ago... Came off nicely and I just renewed it (again with 100 bucks kit from ebay). I track that car and it saved the bumper from many small stones and rubber flying out of cars.... I will probably never apply ppf anymore to Ferrari.. It's a garage queen anyway.

 

How long do you recommend to wait until I apply ceramic coating ? My painter who painted most of my bumpers from chips, etc, on other cars always says "go ahead, it's dry" as soon as I take car home. I do wait a week or so .. is that too soon?

 

I used to have a shop in another life where I would do paint protection, polishing and such (no ppf though) .. I also used Mequiar's polish; I found some other cut products to work a bit better though like Poorboys ... ymmv.

But I do find ceramic coating to help washing the car easier... and if you do it with care, it minimizes the swirls and marks left behind... I do think it's worth it. On a dusty car, I just rinse with water and due to beading all goes off, no need to rub or use shampoo to wash... Of course on a dirty car it does nothing. Just my 2 cents.